Sunday, January 28, 2018

It was a rare Wednesday night to relax for Lovett senior point guard Jenna Brown on Jan. 17 when she decided to sit down and watch television.

Suddenly, the 5-foot, 10-inch daughter of Matt and Sophie Brown remembered the McDonald’s All-American Game basketball rosters were going to be announced that evening for the March 28 contest at Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta. So she tuned in to see if she might know anyone from Georgia on the squad, and she certainly did, herself.

The Lady Lions’ leading scorer, averaging 25 points and nine rebounds a game for head coach Liz Kennedy’s club, had made the All-American Game roster for the East squad along with one other high school player from the state, ...from Winder-Barrow High School in Winder.

“I had always dreamed of playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game, and I honestly still don’t know who nominated me,” Brown said, adding it was a tremendous honor and something she had hoped to do before she left high school.

Although her main goal is to help lead the Lady Lions to the state Class 3A basketball championship after an injury kept her out of the state tournament last year when the team was eliminated in the first round of state, Brown said being name to the All-America team is something special.

In addition to committing to play college basketball at Stanford University in California, her third goal in her senior year remains: bringing home to Lovett a state title.

“Now, as we enter region play heading toward tournament time, I want to win the state title for Lovett, which would make my senior year truly great,” she said.

Thus far this season, the Lady Lions (16-4 overall, 10-0 Region 5-3A) have been a dominant force on the court as the team entered last Friday’s game at Pace Academy atop the region standings.

Kennedy did not mince words when describing Brown, saying that despite her high point and rebound totals, she brings experience to the squad and another element the coach said is even more important.

“Her work ethic is absolutely great, and has really rubbed off on our team,” Kennedy said. “The level of play, hustle and enthusiasm Jenna brings to our team has been outstanding, as it has had a positive effect on our team.”

Being nominated to the All-America team is only the first hurdle those selected to the squad must achieve as they must survive four additional selection rounds.

According to the McDonald’s All-America team website, from 900 to 1,200 girls from throughout the country are nominated for the team.

After a verification process in which the staff of Sports America contacts each player’s high school in order to confirm with the coach or athletic director that the nominee is indeed an eligible senior, the selection process begins. The players nominated and deemed eligible then go through the other selection rounds.

Having made the team, Brown said she wants to play her best on offense and defense in that game, and is glad the game will be in Atlanta so her family and friends can attend it.

Brown received more than 50 basketball scholarship offers from colleges throughout the country but committed to Stanford. She said it was the best fit for her academically and athletically. Stanford’s success in women’s basketball, a program that has won two national titles and has appeared in the Final Four 13 times, also drew her to the school.

The work ethic Brown brings to the basketball court carries over to the classroom, where she has an average of 101 on Lovett’s 100-point scale and her favorite subject is economics.

“I have always found economics to be interesting, and it plays such an important role in the continued development and prosperity of anything, whether it (is) a small business or a country,” she said.

In her free time, Brown enjoys being with her friends and family, and said they have been a cornerstone of her development and success on and off the court.

“I also like to read and draw. I find it very relaxing to read, and I enjoy the freedom of creativity that drawing allows me,” she said.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Lacie Hull, pictured in a December game against Mead, scored 11 points Friday as Central Valley beat University.

Steve Christilaw, spokesman.com, January 19, 2018

When it comes to the Central Valley-University girls basketball portion of the annual Stinky Sneaker festivities, it’s most definitely a spirit game.

And not in a festive way.

The Central Valley defense can be the stuff of nightmares.

In front of a noisy, raucously enthusiastic crowd in the Spokane Arena, the Lady Bears stifled U-Hi in the first half, building a 39-6 lead that left the second two quarters everything but in doubt. In the end, University put on a spirited second half of its own to make the final score 62-35.

Lexie Hull scored 18 points to lead the CV offense and Lacie Hull added another 11, but it’s almost as an afterthought to a smothering defense.

“I texted the girls the other day and I told them that bad teams don’t play defense,” coach Freddie Rehkow said. “Good teams play defense sometimes. But great teams know it’s important to play defense all the time.

“You can have a bad day on offense. You can’t have a bad day playing defense. I tell the girls that if you lose a game 2-0, you’ve given up two points too many.”

It’s a blue-collar defense that scraps for loose balls and uses long arms to get a hand on a wide array of opponents’ shots – from the last-second 3-pointer from the wing as the shot clock winds down to the underhanded scoop underneath the basket. It anticipates where an offense wants to go and frequently gets there before the opponent.

Tuesday night it limited Shadle Park to just five points. For the game.

University is a good, young team with 10 wins overall and a 7-3 record in the GSL. The Titans came out to start the second half on a 7-2 run and eventually outscored the Bears 18-12 in the quarter and 29-23 for the half.

Rehkow shook his head at the thought of a second half that saw the Titans outscore CV 29-13.

“I think when you have a 30-point lead you kind of lose some of your intensity,” he said.

These Bears now are 16-0, 10-0 in Greater Spokane League games.

And they are more than that.

“Three years in and this group is now 70-1,” Rehkow said. “I don’t think we’ve peaked yet. I think we can still get better. If we keep going we have another 10 or 11 more games to see how good we can be.

“That’s what we talk about. When they lost a game last year they felt like they let everybody down. We talk about being as good as we can be. If that gets us a state championship so be it. If not, we’ll deal with it.”

Central Valley 57, Shadle Park 5:

spokesman.com, January 16, 2018

Lexie Hull scored 14 points and the Bears (15-0, 9-0) raced past the Highlanders (2-11, 1-6), who held the Highlanders to a single point over the first three quarters. The Bears have scored a combined 145 points in their last two league contests.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Sixth Stanford player in last three years to feature in all-star event

gostanford.com, January 16, 2018

Incoming freshman Jenna Brown will participate in the 17th annual McDonald's All American Game on March 28 in Atlanta.Brown is on the East Team for the game, which begins at 2 p.m. PT and will be televised live on ESPN2. This year's teams were selected from more than 700 nominees by the McDonald's All American Games selection committee, led by Morgan Wootten, committee chairman and legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach.

Home statement?

After Chicago hosted the game for seven straight years, Atlanta gets its turn to showcase the best high school basketball talent in the country. And that includes hometown star Jenna Brown.

The 5-10 point guard at The Lovett School missed her junior season with a knee injury and will be eager to show the rest of the country she's all the way back. She's averaging 24 points and eight rebounds so far as a senior. She was a member of the 2016 USA Basketball U17 team with fellow McDonald's All Americans.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Lacie Hull (24) of Central Valley passes the ball with pressure from Kentridge player during the second half at ShoWare Center in Kent, on Monday, Jan. 15, 2018.

Highlights

This game felt like it could have been in the Tacoma Dome. But Stanford-bound Lexie Hull scored 23 points with 10 rebounds as No. 1 Central Valley turned its two-point halftime lead into a 57-39 win over No. 3 Kentridge on Monday at the King Showcase at the ShoWare Center.

TJ COTTERILL, thenewstribune.com, January 15, 2018

This sort of thing hasn’t happened to this Kentridge High School girls basketball team all that often.

Bob Sandall thought back to the last time a player controlled the paint against his team like Central Valley’s star forward Lexie Hull did on Monday.

“Probably not since Brittany McPhee,” Sandall said with a chuckle. McPhee graduated from Mount Rainier and is currently Stanford’s leading scorer.

Not a bad comparison. Hull is a Stanford signee.

And Hull finished with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds in leading No. 1 Central Valley to a 57-39 win over No. 3 Kentridge in a battle of the past two defending state champions at the ShoWare Center in Kent on Monday as part of the King Showcase.

But to control the paint against Kentridge? That’s a feat in itself considering the defending state champions feature standout posts at 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-2.

“We haven’t played against that kind of size yet,” said the 6-foot-2 Hull. “So it was good to play people that big.”

Kentridge was one of the few elite teams Central Valley hasn’t played in its 2017-18 redemption tour.

It didn’t get to play the Chargers last year, despite entering the Tacoma Dome for the 4A state tournament as the odds-on favorite to repeat as state champions. Central Valley lost in the quarterfinals against Bellarmine Prep, before Kentridge beat Bellarmine in the semifinals on its way to its first state title in school history.

And with both teams returning most of their teams, this felt like a state title game that never was – but could be this year.

“It did”. “But I’m glad it wasn’t. And I’m glad that when we play them again, we’ll be more ready”.

But Kentridge (14-2) gave Central Valley (14-0) a rare test. This was the Bears’ closest game since its 17-point win over No. 7 Woodinville on Dec. 30. It already had a 35-point win over No. 6 Bellarmine Prep and a 21-point win over No. 5 Lake Stevens on its resume. CV’s schedule could be the toughest in the state.

On Friday, Central Valley was leading Rogers of Spokane, 53-0, at halftime on its way to an 88-12 win. And then it was up 25-4 after the first quarter against Lake Stevens on Saturday.

“I think we are just so deep,” Hull said. “All 10 of our players get on the floor and give it their best. We know that’s what we’re going to get out of everyone.

“We just – almost want to redeem ourselves from last year. Not have a game where we let ourselves down and just push through each game.”

But here Kentridge was, keeping pace with this girls basketball beast of a team and trailing, 24-22, at halftime, despite turning the ball over 10 times.

The problem was those turnovers never stopped. The Chargers turned it over on their first four possessions of the second half, and five of their first six possessions as Central Valley quickly pumped its lead to 33-23.

Kentridge finished with 25 turnovers to Central Valley’s 14.

“It’s tough because a lot of those turnovers really didn’t come as a result of their press. It was us being careless”. “There were at least 10 where we just threw it to nobody.

“Not to take anything at all away from Central Valley. They were clearly the best team today. But I think we got a lot more. We need to be better.”

And it’s rare Kentridge has been outrebounded like it was. Central Valley won the battle of the boards, 34-30, despite being outsized.

“I think we just kind of fell off mentally”. “We weren’t really together. We weren’t really on the same page like we were in the first half.”

And, even then, Hull, the reigning 4A state player of the year by the Associated Press, had 15 points in the first half.

“She is just so well-rounded,” Sandall said. “She can rebound, she can shoot, she can handle. No wonder she’s going to Stanford. She’s the real deal.”

“I felt like we were at the Dome”. “We will probably have a chance to see them at state. So it’s good to get to play them now and get to know them better.”

And Lexie Hull seemed pretty pumped about the idea of one more trip to the Tacoma Dome to finish off her career. Playing in the bright lights and similar dome backdrop of the Tacoma Dome had her thinking about that afterward.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Jenna Brown emerged from the visitors’ locker room Tuesday after Lovett’s game at Westminster with a bag of ice wrapped around her right ankle.

There was no major injury, just a tweak of an ankle that she rolled a couple of weeks ago. And it was certainly nothing compared to what she has had to deal with over the past year and half.

The 5-foot-10 senior guard was a starter as a freshman and a first-team all-state selection the next year, but a torn ACL suffered in the summer of 2016 caused her to miss her entire junior season. She’s back as strong as ever now, helping lead Lovett to a 13-4 record and the No. 7 ranking in Class AAA.

“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, by a mile,” Brown said of sitting out last season. “It’s hard enough sitting out one or two games, but to sit out for that duration was tough.”

When asked how big of a hole Brown’s absence left on last year’s team, Lovett coach Liz Kennedy said, “Oh gosh … I’m my heart on in the book? Huge. The positive is … I always try to look at the positive. It was devastating for her to tear her ACL, but the positive was this team learned to play without her and these young players had to go through a whole year without her, and they got better. The other positive is, a player like that puts so much time and energy into basketball 24-7-365. It gave her a chance to rest. Mentally and physically, it gave her a break. I think that really did a lot for her.”

Brown is averaging 24 points and eight rebounds this season.

Brown is listed by ESPN’s HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings as the nation’s No. 20 senior prospect and the No. 3 player in Georgia, behind only Winder-Barrow’s... (No. 5) and Greater Atlanta Christian’s ... (No. 17), both of whom also have suffered season-ending knee injuries at some point in their high school careers.

Brown had 22 points and six rebounds in the Lions’ 53-25 victory against Westminster this week and is averaging 24 points and eight rebounds for the season. She has signed with Stanford.

“It’s a combination, really, of the fact that she works so hard all the time, and she’s not perfect but she’s always learning,” Kennedy said. “That’s the other part … she’s always learning, and she’s willing to learn and listen. She just tries to take in everything she can. Combine that with trying to work hard all the time. She knew coming into this season that she was going to have to take a lot onto her shoulders for this team, more rebounding, more scoring than she’s used to, running the point as well as the 2 and the 3 and the 4 and the 5. So she knew she was going to have to do more for this team, and she’s done that and has been more than willing to do that.”

Lovett is 7-0 in Region 5-AAA and holds a one-game lead over Pace Academy, which the Lions beat 59-28 last week.

“It’s a great feeling,” Brown said. “Sitting out last year really gave me some perspective as to how much basketball really means to me. It’s been great coming back, as a senior especially.”

Thursday, January 11, 2018

The expected and surprising from Washington received nominations to play in the McDonald’s All American Games.

On Wednesday, the burger chain unveiled its list of more than 700 high school senior girls and boys basketball players to receive nods to suit up for the 41st annual game. Nominees were accepted from their coaches, athletic directors, principals and members of McDonald’s selection committee.